penguin

Wikipedia

English

An Adelie Penguin

Etymology

Unknown origin. Possibly from Welsh pen ("head") and gwyn ("white"), or from Latin pinguis ("fat"). See citations and the Wikipedia page.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pĕng'gwĭn, pĕn'gwĭn

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

penguin (plural penguins)

1. Any of several flightless sea birds, of order Sphenisciformes, found in the Southern Hemisphere; marked by their usual upright stance, walking on short legs, and (generally) their stark black and white plumage. [from 16th c.]
   • 1638, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels, I:

     Here are also birds cal'd Pen-gwins (white-head in Welch) like Pigmies walking upright, their finns or wings hanging very orderly downe like sleeves [...].

2. (slang) A nun (because of the black and white habit).
3. (juggling) A type of catch where the palm of the hand is facing towards the leg with the arm stretched downward, resembling the flipper of a penguin.
4. (botany) A spiny bromeliad with egg-shaped fleshy fruit.

Derived terms

Related terms

Adelie penguin African penguin Chatham Island penguin chinstrap penguin crested penguin emperor penguin erect-crested penguin fairy penguin Fiordland penguin Galapagos penguin gentoo penguin Humboldt penguin

jackass penguin king penguin little penguin macaroni penguin Magellanic penguin penguinery Ridgen's penguin rockhopper penguin royal penguin Snares penguin white-flippered penguin yellow-eyed penguin

Translations

flightless sea bird

• Afrikaans: pikkewyn (af)
• Arabic: بطريق (ar) (biṭrīq) m, بينجوين (ar) (bingwiin) m

  Egyptian Arabic: بطريق (baṭrīq) m

• Armenian: պինգվին (hy) (pingvin)
• Asturian: pingüín (ast) m
• Basque: pinguino (eu)
• Belarusian: пінгвін (be) (pinhvín) m
• Bulgarian: пингвин (bg) (pingvín) m
• Catalan: pingüí (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 企鵝 (cmn), 企鹅 (cmn) (qǐ'é)

• Czech: tučňák (cs) m
• Danish: pingvin (da)
• Dutch: pinguïn (nl) m
• Esperanto: pingveno (eo)
• Finnish: pingviini (fi)
• French: manchot (fr) m (Note that "pingouin" is a false friend. "pingouin" means auk)
• Galician: pingüín (gl) m
• Georgian: პინგვინი (ka) (pingvini)
• German: Pinguin (de) m
• Greek: πιγκουίνος (el) (pigkouínos) m
• Hebrew: פינגווין (he)
• Hindi: पेंगुइन (hi) (pēṅgu'in)
• Hungarian: pingvin (hu)
• Icelandic: mörgæs (is) f
• Italian: pinguino (it) m
• Japanese: ペンギン (ja) (pengin)

• Korean: 펭귄 (ko) (peng-gwin)
• Latvian: pingvīns (lv) m
• Lithuanian: pingvinas (lt) m
• Low German: Pinguien m
• Macedonian: пингвин (mk) (pingvín) m
• Maltese: pengwin (mt) m
• Navajo: tsídii naʼałkʼaiʼí
• Norwegian: pingvin (no) m
• Persian: پنگوئن (fa)
• Polish: pingwin (pl) m
• Portuguese: pinguim (pt) m
• Romanian: pinguin (ro) m
• Russian: пингвин (ru) (pingvín) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пингвин (sh) m

  Roman: pingvin (sh) m

• Slovak: tučniak (sk) m
• Slovene: pingvin (sl) m
• Spanish: pingüino (es) m
• Swedish: pingvin (sv)
• Tatar: пингвин (tt) (pingwin)
• Thai: เพนกวิน (th) (payn-gwin)
• Turkish: penguen (tr)
• Ukrainian: пінгвін (uk) (pinhvín) m
• Vietnamese: chim cánh cụt (vi)
• Volapük: (♂♀) pinguen (vo), (♂) hipinguen (vo), (♀) jipinguen (vo), (♂♀ offspring, young) pinguenül (vo), (♂ offspring) hipinguenül (vo), (♀ offspring) jipinguenül (vo)

External links

• Penguin in the 1921 edition of Collier's Encyclopedia.